‘They fell like a pack of cards’: Kolkata blown away as Lucknow continue juggernaut with crushing win

Lucknow and Kolkata played each other in the 53rd match of the Indian T20 League 2022.  The match turned out to be a one-sided affair as Lucknow dominated Kolkata in all departments of the game.

Kolkata won the toss and decided to field first. Lucknow had an unfortunate start to their innings as their skipper and the most important batter of the team, KL Rahul was run out without facing a ball. Quinton de Kock and Deepak Hooda took over at this stage and stitched a partnership of 73 runs off 37 deliveries. The partnership stabilized the innings and provided a solid foundation for the batters to come in later. Quinton de Kock was the second wicket to fall for Lucknow in the eighth over when their score was 73 runs. De Kock played an impressive knock of 5o runs off 29 balls, hitting 4 fours and 3 sixes before being dismissed by Sunil Narine. Deepak Hooda ( 41 of 27) followed De Kock within five overs and Lucknow were three wickets down for 107 runs in the 13th over.

Wickets kept falling after this and Lucknow’s progress faced many an obstacle. However, Marcus Stoinis (28 of 14) and Jason Holder (13 of 4) played fiery cameos at the end and helped Lucknow reach a total of 176 runs for the loss of 7 wickets in their 20 overs. Shivam Mavi conceded 30 runs in the 19th over of the innings, which kept the momentum with Lucknow at the innings break.  Andre Russell was the pick of the bowlers for Kolkata with three wickets from 3 overs conceding 22 runs.

With the momentum in their favor, Lucknow started their bowling effort on a brilliant note. All the bowlers of Lucknow looked in a great rhythm and kept chipping away with wickets from the very beginning. They reduced Kolkata to 25 for 4 in just 6.5 overs. The main pillars of the batting Aaron Finch (14 of 14), Shreyas Iyer (6 of 9), and Nitish Rana (2 of 11) were all back in the hut. The batters were finding it difficult to get going in the middle and the scoreboard pressure was mounting. The onus of taking Kolkata home was on Andre Russell at this stage. The big West Indian was looking dangerous in the middle and was dealing only in boundaries. The fans were beginning to place their bets on Russell taking Kolkata home, when Avesh Khan dismissed him in the 13th overs. As Dre Russ walked back the hopes seemed to be extinguishing for the Men in Purple. Russell played an aggressive knock of 45 runs from 19 balls.

After Russell’s dismissal the sorrow story continued for Kolkata as they kept losing wickets. The Men in Purple were bundled out for 101 runs in the 15th over. They lost the match by 75 runs which was the biggest in terms of runs for any team this year. This was the seventh loss for Kolkata in eleven matches, while Lucknow won their 8th in 12 matches. With this loss Kolkata becomes the third team to be eliminated from the Indian T20 League.

Here is how Twitter reacted.

https://twitter.com/IPL/status/1522968042849767426?s=20&t=CCCl6aVotQ1dTdnBB2SKVw

Quinton de Kock Back To Pavilion After Hiting Fifty In 29 Balls.

#LSGvKKR pic.twitter.com/rwlbRTHtGD

— Cricket Clue (@cricketcluein) May 7, 2022

https://twitter.com/Sportskeeda/status/1522986925488885760?s=20&t=CCCl6aVotQ1dTdnBB2SKVw

https://twitter.com/GreenplyPlywood/status/1522986963178901504?s=20&t=CCCl6aVotQ1dTdnBB2SKVw

https://twitter.com/SerenityJaded/status/1522987008401940481?s=20&t=CCCl6aVotQ1dTdnBB2SKVw

https://twitter.com/abhikul_2910/status/1522986039165407233?s=20&t=CCCl6aVotQ1dTdnBB2SKVw

https://twitter.com/cricbuzz/status/1522990806927568896?s=20&t=CCCl6aVotQ1dTdnBB2SKVw

https://twitter.com/WisdenIndia/status/1522990650983333888?s=20&t=CCCl6aVotQ1dTdnBB2SKVw

https://twitter.com/LucknowIPL/status/1522990439233589248?s=20&t=CCCl6aVotQ1dTdnBB2SKVw

https://twitter.com/ReemaMalhotra8/status/1522991249162399746?s=20&t=CCCl6aVotQ1dTdnBB2SKVw

https://twitter.com/SushantNMehta/status/1522985802556313603?s=20&t=CCCl6aVotQ1dTdnBB2SKVw

https://twitter.com/anirudhani_/status/1522993485225541635?s=20&t=uiPGfnIddRjP7CVfafQd6Q